


A Desperate Gamble

by phantomPen



Category: Homestuck, Replay Value AU - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-04
Updated: 2012-09-04
Packaged: 2017-11-13 13:01:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/503804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomPen/pseuds/phantomPen





	A Desperate Gamble

A: They're winning, you know.  
A: They're picking us off one by one.  
A: They're finding us, and they're taking us.  
B: I know.  
A: What should we do about it?  
B: Do? What do you mean, "do"? We do what we always have … we hide, and we fight when they find us.  
A: That's not enough.  
A: We'll die if that's all we do.  
A: All of us.  
B: Do you have any better ideas?  
A: Maybe.  
A: We need to get ahold of the rest.  
B: You don't mean who I think you do, do you?  
A: Is there anyone else it could be, instead?  
B: I guess not.

 

C: This is a stupid idea.  
C: A crazy, insane idea.  
C: Is he serious about this?  
B: He is.  
C: What makes him think I even want to talk to him again, after what we DID?  
C: After what we made?  
B: He thinks it's a way to fight back, possibly our only way.  
C: That's insane! It's ludicrous! He remembers what it DOES, right?  
B: You know he hasn't.  
C: Then what in the name of all that is holy makes him, or YOU, think that I will for one second entertain the notion of working with you again?  
B: Because despite all the objections, you haven't said "No".  
C: Damn him.  
C: Damn you both.

 

D: This is why I saved everything.  
A: You knew?  
D: I suspected.  
D: How many other options are there?  
A: Everyone else seems to think hiding is still the only game plan.  
D: Everyone else isn't watching the same projections I am.  
D: The most favorable estimate gives us another fifty years before it's all over.  
A: Official numbers say we can make it.  
D: The most favorable REASONABLE estimate.  
D: I run my own numbers.  
A: What's the ugliest projection look like?  
D: One month.  
A: Don't even joke about that.  
D: I'm not. It's a worst-case scenario, but it's not impossible.  
D: We're probably looking at seven to twelve years.  
D: Longer if they go into another dormant cycle.  
A: Don't you think we could make it if they go dormant again?  
D: No.  
D: There's too many of them out there, now.  
D: Even their so-called "dormant cycle", they are live warheads waiting to go off.  
D: It just means they don't go hunting you down.  
D: And there's one other thing they could do that would change the numbers.  
A: Don't even say it.  
A: That's bad juju, saying that.  
D: But it's possible.  
A: We're not talking about that.  
D: Fine.  
D: This is why I saved everything.  
D: All the research notes, all the raw data, even managed to salvage some of the equipment we junked before they shut us down and destroyed everything.  
D: We don't have to start back from scratch.  
D: Maybe this time we can make it work.

 

C: Register my objections for the record.  
A: Objections duly noted.  
B: You know I don't like this, either.  
A: Seriously, do you have any better ideas?  
A: Or any other ideas at all, in fact?  
B: You know I don't.  
C: Doesn't mean I like it.  
C: You KNOW what we're playing with.  
D: We all do.  
D: And we all know the dangers.  
D: But there is no alternative.  
C: Please STOP pounding that into my head.  
C: I know that, alright?  
C: That's the only reason I agreed to this.  
B: Look at the bright side. If we do it wrong, we won't be around to complain about it afterwards.  
C: Oh, you are just the brightest moment of my smiling day.  
C: So what exactly IS the plan?  
C: Other than the generic maybe-erase-everything-from-existence part?  
A: We invent the universe.

 

C: No way.  
C: No way, no way, no effing WAY!  
B: His numbers look good. I think we can do it.  
C: You just  
C: No one ever completed the calculations to make tonestone.  
C: And even if they did, we have no way to know if it would even WORK.  
D: They'll be finished in time.  
D: And it will work.  
C: How do you really expect this to work?  
C: This is most ridiculous plan I have ever heard.  
C: How are you talking about creating and controlling a whole universe like it's actually a thing you can do?  
B: Because despite the fact that it looks so impossible on the face of it, the numbers really do add up in the end. We have a very good shot.  
C: Of creating a universe from scratch?  
D: Not from scratch.  
D: There may be  
D: Consequences.

 

A: Did you hear the latest news?  
D: About them?  
A: Yeah.  
D: I did.  
A: The survival numbers?  
D: Still within margin of error.  
A: Do we have enough time?  
D: If nothing changes? Yes.  
A: And if something does change?  
D: You asked me not to talk about that.

 

A: How is it coming?  
B: The working prototype is almost ready for testing. We should start getting reliable numbers for you by the end of the week.  
A: Good. On the programming angle?  
C: You are kidding me, right?  
C: You are asking me to program something that will create whole universes, and you are asking me to do it by myself without the proper time to test it.  
A: If you don't, everyone dies. And then there will be no more anyone.  
C: With the specter of ultimate disaster over my head if I fail.  
B: We may need to bring someone else in to help with the programming angle. I know someone. Perfect genius with code, trustworthy.  
A: Make it happen.  
C: Isn't anyone going to ask MY opinion?  
A: I said make it happen. This isn't open to debate. The stakes are too high.

 

B: Do you have that tonestone for me?  
D: It'll be in place on schedule.  
B: You haven't finished it yet, have you?  
D: It will be in place on schedule.  
B: You know we don't get many shots at this. If we need to postpone the test, we can do that.  
D: It. Will be. In place. On schedule.  
B: Are you sure about this?  
D: We don't have enough time to postpone.  
B: You said we still had a couple years left.  
D: We did.  
B: I don't like the sound of that.  
D: You shouldn't.

 

E: I sent you the next sections.  
C: Yeah, I saw.  
E: I think we can run this on a thinner system architecture if we streamline some of the waste code around the LC5 section.  
C: Don't have time.  
E: But you're just recycling huge swaths of code from other projects without even trying to optimize it! Do you know how inefficient this is?  
C: Damn it!  
C: Do you know how inefficient dying before we can complete it is?  
E: Fine. I'll get back to work.  
C: Hey, I don't like the way we have to do this any more than you do.  
C: And I just HATE having to take this side.  
C: But we are the bottleneck, so we need to work as fast as possible.  
E: Yeah, I got it. The fate of the universe is literally resting on us and all that.  
C: Oh my god, could you be any more lame?  
C: Shut up and code.

 

A: Tell me something good.  
B: Tonestone works. Tested a sample with the prototype, and it survived perfectly.  
A: Since when do the words "survived perfectly" go together?  
B: Since nothing else in the area of effect survived at all.  
A: Annihilated?  
B: Completely.  
A: How completely?  
B: We are now out of working prototypes.  
A: I said tell me something GOOD.  
B: There's more.  
A: What?  
B: Not now. Everyone needs to hear this together.

 

A: Alright, progress reports. Programming side first.  
C: We're almost ready to compile and test. If it runs perfectly, we'll be able to direct the formation of a new universe with life-bearing planets.  
A: Will it?  
A: Run perfectly, I mean?  
C: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.  
C: No.  
C: This is the most unholy abomination I have ever thrown together.  
C: We had to salvage over half the quantum fluctuation control systems from existing nanotech programs without doing anything more than changing variable names.  
C: It will be a miracle if it even compiles on the first shot, to be honest.  
C: But we're actually doing better than I thought we would.  
C: I'll have something functional by the time the buzzer sounds.  
A: Good.  
A: How's the tonestone coming along?  
D: Better than expected. I'm starting work on the first server. We might even have enough left over after I'm done to make a ship and try to navigate our way in.  
A: Finally, some good news.  
B: I'm afraid not.  
C: Can we just pretend it was good news and keep going?  
B: There is a flaw with universe generation.  
C: Not on my end, there's not!  
B: No, it's on mine.  
B: As it turns out, they were right to shut us down before.  
A: Tell me you are not going to say what I think you're about to say.  
A: PLEASE tell me that.  
B: I'm sorry.  
B: I'm so, so sorry.  
B: If we create a new universe, it will pull all its activation energy from our side.  
C: Please tell the non-scientists in the group what that means.  
B: It means the collapse. Of everything.  
B: Space/time as we know it will lose cohesion and shatter.  
B: It will fold OUR universe in on itself, and the stuff of our dead universe will be used to birth the new one.  
B: Or ones.  
A: Ones?  
B: The math is getting hard to pin down at this point, but it suggests that we will actually be looking at creating anywhere from ten to two hundred parallel microuniverses.  
A: Oh, PLEASE tell me you're joking.  
B: I'm not.  
D: Each universe is going to need its own server to guide its development, isn't it?  
B: Yes. That means at least dozens of tonestone servers. And it gets worse.  
B: These microuniverses are not going to be stable, and they'll inevitably collapse in on themselves in time.  
B: They will also have the same holes that let Them in.  
A: Unacceptable. I will NOT oversee the destruction of our universe just to create more universes to feed into the slaughterhouse.  
B: I'm sorry. I don't see any other options.  
D: I have an idea.  
A: Shoot it.  
D: We set up the created universes to collapse themselves before they get this far, and use that collapse to birth a replacement.  
A: You're talking about self-replicating universes.  
D: Yes.  
D: If each universe can collapse itself and then build a replacement with the stuff it was made from, they could keep the chain going indefinitely.  
A: But if the universe collapses itself, it won't be able to create a replacement.  
B: I think I have a solution.  
C: And I think I'm not gonna like it.  
B: Each universe will initiate its collapse in stages. The first stage will be used to fuel the creation of a temporary, independent area of space/time that will facilitate the creation of the new universe.  
A: You mean … a new universe to help create a new universe?  
B: No. It'll still be causally linked to its source, and not quite "real" enough to be a universe in its own right.  
A: How does that even make sense?  
C: Welcome to my world.  
A: Shut up.  
B: It's involved.  
D: I think it should be possible.  
D: I'll have to run the numbers with you to back it up, but it sounds workable.  
D: We'll need to program a whole new semifluid universe architecture for the sessions overseeing creation.  
C: Oh you all must just HATE me.  
C: Am I not overworked enough, already?  
C: Is that what this is?  
A: You can go take your chances explaining the situation and asking them to leave us alone, if you'd prefer.

 

D: Bad news.  
A: Don't sugarcoat it, just give to me straight.  
D: They're evolving.  
A: Oh, screw ME.  
D: I'm reading scattered reports that they are beginning to teleport clear through solid objects to get to us, now.  
A: Oh, SCREW ME.  
D: Our timeline just went from years to weeks.  
A: But we haven't even begun programming the interim stage, yet!  
A: And barely half of the servers are done!  
D: You know they don't care about that.  
D: At least, I have no reason to believe they do. Or even realize what we are planning.  
A: You shut up RIGHT now.

 

A: You need to go faster.  
C: We are working ourselves to the bone, here!  
C: Any spare second not spent sleeping or talking to you, I spend coding.  
A: It's not enough.  
A: They're evolving. We're looking at weeks now, instead of years.  
C: Well, that's it.  
C: We're doomed.  
C: There is no physical way we can program the interim stage in less than two years.  
A: Find a way around it, and do it NOW.  
C: Don't you get it?  
C: You're talking about designing a semistable universe framework from scratch!  
C: Even with ZERO testing and debugging, that's at least a year and a half just to bang out all the code!  
A: So steal some.  
A: Hijack code from something else and MAKE it fit.  
C: Like WHAT?  
C: There IS no code for creating temporary, instanced universes!  
A: So pull apart some freaking VR game code and tell the server to emulate it.  
C: …  
C: No way.  
C: It's not that simple.  
C: It'll spawn destructive game entities that will break everything.  
C: And then no new universes.  
C: At all.  
A: So pull in a few people from the host universe to keep everything in check and guide the creation of the new universe.  
C: You KNOW how terrible an idea this is, right?  
C: RIGHT?  
A: I know how terrible it will be if we fail.  
A: What else would you have me do?

 

B: New problem. We need each universe to generate a copy of the universe-creating interim game. It needs to originate from the decaying universe, or else the connection becomes unstable and the new universe attempts to use itself to fuel its own creation.  
E: So I just need to have the server copy it into the old universe before making the game session?  
E: Nice to have a simple request for once.  
D: Well, no.  
D: It needs to be organic or the new universe won't found correctly.  
E: Not making any sense, here.  
B: You need to influence the creation of each universe such that each one produces a new, unique version of the game session program. The servers can handle the actual manifestation work the same way they do with normal universe creation, but the causal "path" needs to pass through the dying universe, or else it dies.  
E: I still didn't understand a word of that.  
E: Don't tell me why, just tell me what to do.  
D: Manipulate each universe so that someone programs the hijacked game code and thinks they did it on their own. Make sure each version is slightly unique.  
E: Thank you. That I can do.

 

B: My end is done. We can set it off as soon as the programming is done and the servers are online.  
A: Be careful with it.  
B: Don't worry, I will be.  
A: Do you have the servers positioned, yet?  
D: The inner and middle rings are done, and the outer ring is about one-third complete. We're load-testing them right now.  
B: The programming isn't even close, yet.  
A: It's not polished, but they'll have something workable when the time comes.  
A: It might even be stable.  
B: You have a lot of faith in them.  
A: It's not that.  
B: Then what?  
A: I just can't let myself think otherwise.

 

E: So you still haven't told me how we're getting out, yet.  
A: We might not be.  
E: Clarify that for me?  
A: All of our tonestone went into the servers. We're not going to be able to ride this out.  
E: That sucks.  
A: I know. I know.  
A: I'm hoping that if we are close enough to the wavefront when it goes off, that we might be able to ride it out.  
A: Surf that space/time shockwave and maybe some piece of us will slip along the cracks and make it out into the twisty nether where the servers will exist.  
E: So basically we're doomed.  
E: And even if by some miracle any part of our consciousness gets out of this, we'll be stuck in a broken-dimensional voidzone out beyond the area of reality the furthest ring of servers will protect.  
A: Look at the bright side.  
A: Your consciousness will probably be shattered into a hundred thousand broken shards, and the terrible horror of what's happened will drive you mad.  
E: Were you always this dark?  
A: No. But it's the only way to keep from falling apart.

 

E: I see what you're doing with the servers you're modifying.  
E: You're setting them up so they can be accessed and used for data storage from anywhere. Any of the universes and sessions.  
E: Why?  
E: You know what the others would say if they found out.  
E: What they'd do.  
E: Why are you doing it?  
E: There has to be a reason.  
E: TALK to me, damn you!

 

D: How are you holding up?  
B: Very well, thank you  
B: I am calm and filled with peace  
B: I have faith that everything is going to work out in the end  
D: You've always been the calm one. Must be nice.  
B: You just need to believe  
B: There is no room for doubt  
B: Have faith in each other, and we can last through anything

 

D: I'm worried about our programmers.  
A: Why?  
D: They're both working on the parts that will ensure each universe creates its own version of the game program.  
A: And?  
D: And they're obsessed.  
D: They're hopped up on stims, they don’t sleep, they barely eat, and they don't do anything but sit there and code.  
A: That's GOOD.  
A: That's what we need them to do.  
A: We need them to finish this as fast as possible. We're in the home stretch, now.  
D: Yes, but  
D: What if they aren't actually writing it?  
D: What if it's actually writing itself?  
A: What IS it with you and scaring me?  
A: Do you even know what you're suggesting?  
D: I do.  
D: And for once, even I don't want to think it.

 

D: I think they're onto us.  
C: Big surprise, there.  
C: Why don't you tell us all just how screwed we are once more?  
C: It's just what I needed to make my day complete.  
A: Shut UP.  
A: How close are you to done with programming?  
C: We're hunting down the last of the errors.  
A: We don't have time to get all the little bugs, here. We don't even have time to get all the big bugs.  
C: Not even trying. Just finding things that will crash the servers and patching it up enough to keep running.  
A: How soon can you have a working version?  
C: Fourteen hours to compile whatever our current build is, and we can start loading the servers.  
A: Good, good.  
D: Servers are connected and waiting for the program to be installed.  
B: Give thanks, the device has been prepared with all due diligence  
B: Our work here is almost done  
A: Good, and good.  
A: For the first time, I really think we might be able to pull this off.  
B: Fear not, brother  
B: Faith comes by doing

 

A: Drop whatever you're doing and compile the latest build. I have a terrible feeling we are not going to have fourteen hours of warning.  
C: You, too?  
C: I'm one step ahead. Already six hours into it.  
A: That six hours may make all the difference.

 

D: GodDAMNIT, why didn't I see it sooner?  
D: All the signs were RIGHT THERE in front of me the whole time.  
E: What do you mean?  
D: They got to one of us. They freaking took one of us and we were all too busy to notice.  
E: WHAT?  
C: Not all of us. I noticed.  
C: Not as early as I should have, but before it was too late.  
A: Same here.  
E: What are you talking about? What's happening?  
A: One of us is missing, and the device is already triggered.  
A: Three hours to reach critical mass.  
A: Guess what happened.  
D: That's checkmate. We can't compile in three hours, so all of this was for nothing, and now the universe will be erased.  
A: Not quite.  
C: Heh, heh.  
C: I had a hunch, and already started compiling.  
C: Two hours left to go.  
A: Can you get the servers up and running in an hour?  
D: Maybe? That's right down to the wire.  
A: We only get one shot at this.  
A: Make it happen.

 

 

>Simultaneous Digital Universe Creation Kit – Master disc inserted  
>SDUCK installed  
>SDUCK servers online  
>Universe cascade reaction imminent  
>Cascade commencing  
>Universe collapse  
>………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………100%  
>Beginning new universe generation  
>………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………100%  
>LET THERE BE LIGHT


End file.
